Mumbai, Oct 25 (Mid-Day): Five of the city’s best doctors find their names in the police books after the Azad Maidan police station registered a case of medical negligence against them.

Dr M L Saraf, Dr P L Tiwari, Dr Parikh, Dr N Bharucha and Dr Borges have been booked under sections 309 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 201 (giving false information), 420 (cheating), 467 (forging of documents), 471 (fraudulent use of documents), 109 (abetment) and a few other charges.

The complaint was lodged based on allegations made by Nandini Suchde (46), a Colaba resident, whose mother Gitika Ghosh died while being treated at the hospital due to negligence shown by the medical personnel.

The case

Ghosh had been brought into Bombay Hospital from Kolkata to treat her fractured femur (thigh bone) in January this year. A panel of eight doctors was formed to treat her.

Ghosh claimed that the doctors didn’t take care of her mother and delayed shifting her to the ICU when complications arose, resulting in her death. After Ghosh complained to the police of medical negligence in June, a panel of four doctors from the Department of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Surgery, Sir J J Group of Hospitals, was initiated to investigate into the matter. The panel found that there had been professionalnegligence and wrote to the Azad Maidan police with their report.

The letter reads, “As per the documents provided, patient Gitika Ghosh meeting was conducted on 17/06/2013 at 3.00 pm and 25/9/13 at 5.00 pm. After verifying the available documents and going through the documents. It appears to be professional negligence” (Sic) Based on these findings, the police have initiated action against the doctors. Sanjay Dalvi, police inspector from Azad Maidan Police station, the investigating officer for the case said, “We took the case based on the report from the concerned department of J J hospital. We are currently investigating the matter.” Suchde, a resident of Colaba, alleged that the doctors had not taken care of her mother well, and had kept her in the dark about her condition.

“It was an eight-doctor panel but one doctor left the panel midway. Dr Saraf, the head of the panel, without a No Objection Certificate from the departing doctor, brought in Dr P L Tiwari. We came to know later that it was Dr Saraf’s decision to change personnel,” alleged Suchde.

She also claimed that because eight doctors were treating her mother, she was given excessive medicines because of which she was always in a drowsy state during her entire stay at the hospital.  Suchde feels that had the doctors treated her mother on time, she would have been alive today. “I am not fighting for any compensation. I am fighting the case, because I want justice for my mother,” she said.

Hospital speak
A doctor from the panel clarified, “Ghosh was being treated by eight doctors because she had multiple medical problems such as diabetes and other issues. She was also aged. We tried our best but couldn’t save her.”

Dr Sanjay Sakle, spokesperson for Bombay Hospital said, “The patient was brought in with a femur fracture and other multiple medical complex problems. She was given adequate possible care at the hospital. A panel of eight doctors was treating her. Neither Bombay Hospital nor any of the doctors named have any idea about the FIR registered.”

Dr P L Tiwari was unavailable for comment, and Dr Bharucha’s assistant told this reporter that he would comment on the matter only by Monday.